


Camp Cyberlife (Anatomy)

by KarinaMay



Category: Detroit Evolution - Fandom, Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Detroit: Evolution
Genre: Asexual Character, I hope you understand from the title this isn't very serious, M/M, Smoking, Warnings May Change, detroot evoot.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:40:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24556348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarinaMay/pseuds/KarinaMay
Summary: Gavin gets convinced by his best friend Tina to become a camp counselor with her for the summer. Camp Cyberlife is a summer camp for human and android children, started as an initiative to better human-android relations. Gavin isn’t particularly fond of androids, and isn’t sure why exactly he let Tina drag him into this. Especially considering the fact that his co-counselor, Nines, is frustratingly perfect and annoyingly likeable, and most definitely not Gavin’s type.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 34
Kudos: 88





	1. Analyse

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PrepSchoolAda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrepSchoolAda/gifts).



> This work is 110% inspired by "camp cyberlife anatomy" in detroot evoot. It's not serious, and please don't ask me how the setting of this work interacts with the canon because I really don't have an answer. Also this work is dedicated to Jo, who has to deal with me yelling about Detroit: Evolution in her twitter DMs.

“I still can’t believe you talked me into this,” Gavin sighed, grabbing his duffel bag from the back of the car and slinging it over his shoulder. His best friend, Tina, was waiting for him impatiently, tapping her foot in the dust. Gavin locked the car and turned to face her. 

“Stop complaining, Gavin,” she said, and she grabbed his arm to drag him with her. It was Tina’s third summer as a counselor at Camp Cyberlife, and she had the strange ability to make working as a parent of ten kids for two months sound fun. Gavin had regretted letting her talk him into this as soon as he’d agreed, but at least he was getting paid, and pretty much anything would be better than how he’d spent the summer before. Still, his entire application had been written by Tina, and Gavin had no idea how he was going to live up to the “patient, caring, and enthusiastic” personality she’d given him. 

Camp Cyberlife was situated on the shores of Mystic Lake, and was about as far away from city life as Gavin had ever been. He tried not to look too impressed while they made the short track down from the parking lot to gate of the camp itself, but it was hard not to enjoy the beauty of their surroundings. However, as soon as the quaint village of cabins came into view, Gavin felt the knot in his stomach return. 

“Seriously, why am I here again?” Gavin asked, resisting the urge to just turn around and leave again. 

“Because it’s fun!” Tina replied. “And, because I’m your best friend, and as your best friend I have decided that this experience will be good for you. Because I know you.”

Gavin rolled his eyes at her. “Right, I forgot you’re also my therapist.”

“And you don’t even have to pay me for it.” 

* * *

“All right, hello everyone, it’s so good to see you all! My name is Markus, I’m the boys’ head counselor here at Camp Cyberlife. Over there on the side is Maria, she’s the girls’ head counselor. If you have any questions after this introduction you can come see either of us. You’re only allowed to go to Hank with questions if neither of us know the answer.”

Gavin and Tina had showed up just in time for the introduction, and they were standing against the back wall of the dining hall, surrounded by their new colleagues. Tina had already spotted a couple of people she knew, but had thankfully remained by his side for now. As Markus explained the activities for the next day - basically a crash course in camp counseling - Gavin scanned the crowd. The crowd seemed to be split pretty evenly between humans and androids, although it was a bit harder to tell these days now that most androids chose to get rid of their LEDs. The easiest way to recognize them in crowds these days was by their eerily perfect looks and the way they moved. 

“As I’m sure you all know, we work with a co-counselor system here,” Markus continued. “Every cabin group of ten kids will have a human and an android counselor. This is to make everyone feel as comfortable as possible, but keep in mind the goal of this camp is unity, so try not to have your human kids only lean on the human counselor and vice versa.” 

“You didn’t tell me I’d have to deal with an android co-counselor,” Gavin whispered to Tina. 

“What did you expect?” Tina whispered back. “It’s Camp _ Cyberlife _ .”

“There’s a list here with everyone’s names, co-counselors and cabin numbers. We encourage you all to settle in, get to know each other, get to know the camp grounds, and be back here in time for dinner at 6PM,” Markus said. 

As soon as Markus ended his speech, the dining hall came to life. Tina immediately went off into the crowd and Gavin was left standing alone, feeling out of place. Once again refusing to give in to the urge to run, he instead made his way through the crowd up to the front of the hall where Markus had left the lists of cabin groups. 

Gavin scanned through the names and found himself paired up with someone listed as “Nines” as the counselors of cabin 8. He took a map from the stack laying of to the side and looked around once again. Everyone seemed to have taken the “get to know each other” to heart immediately. He spotted Tina in the back, talking to a couple of other girls. Gavin was pretty sure she’d left him alone on purpose, so he’d have to talk to other people than her, but all he really wanted right now was to sneak out and find a hiding place where he could smoke. 

“You look like a first-timer.” 

Gavin hadn’t noticed someone had walked up to him and jumped. 

“Hi, my name is Chris.” 

“Gavin,” Gavin replied, shaking Chris’s hand. “And yeah, you’re right. First time. Definitely.”

Chris laughed. “Hey man, there’s no need to look so worried.”

“I’m not worried,” Gavin said. “I’m just… you know.”

“It’s fine, nothing to be ashamed of,” Chris continued. “First day of camp is a lot. Even for veterans like myself. If you want I can show you around the grounds, you look like you could use some fresh air.” 

“I - yes, fresh air sounds good,” Gavin admitted.

They walked out of the dining hall and Gavin immediately felt a bit lighter. Chris took him on a tour around the camp grounds, showing off the sports fields, the stable and the pier. It was clear from the way he talked he’d been at Camp Cyberlife a long time. 

“How long have you been a counselor?” Gavin asked, as they walked back in the direction of the cabins. 

“Oh no, I’m not a counselor,” Chris said. “Well, I was the first year, but nowadays I’m the lifeguard. Anyway, over there at the end of the path is cabin 8. By the looks of it your co-counselor is already there. I have to go take care of some things, but I’ll see you at dinner.”

Chris walked off and Gavin felt the knot in his stomach return as he slowly walked down the path to his cabin. As he approached cabin 8, someone walked out the door onto the porch to greet him. This was presumably “Nines”. Even from this distance the Gavin could see the way this person moved was too deliberate to be human. 

Gavin didn’t hate androids. Not specifically anyway. But there was something about them that always made him feel slightly uncomfortable. The android on the porch was tall, definitely taller than Gavin, with perfectly styled hair, a Ken doll face, and most notably, a blue LED spinning in his temple. 

“You must be Gavin,” the android said, as Gavin stepped up on the porch. “You can call me Nines.”

Gavin shook Nines’ hand, slightly surprised at the warmth radiating from the artificial skin. 

“Yeah, hi,” Gavin said, stepping into the cabin. 

There were five bunk beds on one side, two single beds on the other, one of which was occupied by a large suitcase, and Gavin suddenly wondered if androids actually slept. He didn’t really want to ask, though, so he dumped his duffle bag on the free bed and sat down next to it, rubbing his eyes. 

“Did you have a long journey here?” 

“About a three hour drive,” Gavin replied, without looking up. 

“Ah, Detroit then?” 

Gavin nodded. 

“Have you been a counselor here before?” 

“Nope, first time.”

“That goes for me as well. It seems we will have to figure it out together.”

Gavin sighed. “Yeah, sure. Listen, I gotta go... do something. See you later.” Gavin stood up and walked out of the cabin without another glance at Nines. He went down the gentle slope behind the cabin that led to the lake. When he figured he was sufficiently hidden from sight, he lit a cigarette and closed his eyes. Deep down he knew that Tina was right, and that this would probably be good for him, but that didn’t mean that it was going to be easy. Right now he just needed a moment. Just a moment to clear his head and calm his nerves. 

* * *

His solo walk around the lake had actually helped Gavin clear his head enough that he enjoyed dinner. He’d found Tina again, who was sitting at a table with the three other girls she’d been talking to before: Ada, North and Valerie. When Valerie introduced herself, Gavin smirked at Tina, who just kicked his ankle under the table. Chris also joined their table, and Gavin didn’t even really mind when Nines showed up to sit with them as well. 

Gavin paid only half attention to the easy flow of conversation at their table - just enough to answer a question when required. There was a round of talk about everyone’s favourite camp activities, questions about people from last year who hadn’t returned, a short inquiry into North’s breakup with Markus, and other mostly light hearted topics. Gavin found himself paying close attention to Nines, trying to figure out who this guy was he’d have to work with the entire summer. 

The evening drew to a close relatively early. By the time they were all going back to their cabins, Gavin was still wide awake. He usually didn’t sleep much anyway. So instead of going to bed, he just retrieved his jacket from the cabin and made his way back down to the edge of the lake, where he’d gone earlier that day. He sat down in the sand by the edge of the water and lit another cigarette. The sun had just gone down, and there were still traces of pink and purple in the sky over the lake. A soft breeze rustled through the trees and the quiet splashing of the water was accompanied by what sounded like at least a hundred crickets. Gavin took another drag from his cigarette. Maybe camp wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

“Are you aware smoking on camp grounds is prohibited?” 

“Unless you’re going to rat me out I think I don’t think anyone is going to notice,” Gavin replied without looking back at Nines. Any sense of calm he’d felt a moment ago was gone again. 

Nines walked up to stand next to Gavin. “I was not planning on ‘ratting you out’. You seemed to be experiencing high levels of stress today. As bad as smoking is for humans, I understand that it might help you relax.”

“I seemed to be - what were you, like, fucking scanning me?”

“I meant no disrespect,” Nines said. “You weren’t very talkative. I was trying to figure out a way to make it easier for us to work together.” 

“Well maybe start by respecting my privacy or something.”

Nines didn’t reply, and Gavin resisted the urge to look up at him. Instead he kept his eyes fixed on the other side of the lake, taking another long drag from his cigarette. After a moment of silence, Nines carefully sat down in the sand next to Gavin. 

“Why are you here, Gavin?” Nines asked then. 

“Seemed like an okay way to spend the summer,” Gavin replied. “Why are you here?”

“This camp is about teaching human and android children how to live in this world together, but I am here because I would also like to learn from them. Children seem to have less trouble expressing their emotions, even android ones. I think it would be good for me, considering I have never been a child myself.”

Gavin wasn’t sure what answer he’d expected, but it wasn’t that. He finally looked over at Nines. He was about to reply when he noticed the android had put on a jacket as well and lost his train of thought. 

“Do androids even get cold?” Gavin asked, looking at the white leather jacket. 

Nines smiled. “No. At least not in the same manner as humans do. Our biocomponents can be damaged by extreme weather conditions, but we don’t really  _ feel _ the temperatures. But we have been programmed to copy certain human mannerisms, like putting on extra clothes when temperatures drop.”

“Right.”

“I also just happen to like this jacket.” 

Gavin tried to hide a smile and turned his attention back to the lake. Nines didn’t say anything else, but made no move to leave either. Gavin didn’t know how long they’d sat there before they finally quietly made their way back to their cabin, but even if Nines’ company would probably take some getting used to, his earlier sense of calm had returned. When he finally got into bed, he almost immediately fell into a dreamless sleep. 


	2. Adequate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternate title is "Gavin doesn't know how to deal with things".

Day two, their counselor crash course, was so packed with information Gavin was sure he wouldn’t even remember half of it the next day. The amount of rules, regulations, safety measures, and other general information that had been thrown at them by the end of the day was enough to make anyone feel inadequate. Or at least that was how Gavin felt that evening when they were walking down to the lake with a group to go for an evening swim. Everyone else seemed to be as as happy and carefree as ever, but Gavin was still going over random information in his head. 

“You look worried again, Gavin,” Nines said, catching up to him easily. 

“There’s just no way I’m gonna remember all that shit they told us today,” Gavin replied. 

“That won’t be a problem,” Nines said. “I have all the information stored in my memory. If there’s anything you need to know, I can help.” 

Gavin glanced up at Nines. “You know it’s kind of unfair that you can just hear something once and remember it forever.” 

“It would only be unfair if I wouldn’t use that feature to help you,” Nines said. 

Gavin frowned. “Fair enough. Still, there’s gotta be something humans are better at than androids, right? You guys can’t have all the cool stuff.” 

“I’m sure there are many ‘cool’ things you can do, too, Gavin,” Nines said, and he smirked. “We’ll just have to figure out what they are.” 

“Right, sure,” Gavin said, glancing from Nines to the lake and back. “Know what? I bet I can get to the lake before you.”

“Actually, I think-”

Before Nines could finish his sentence, Gavin had already bolted in the direction of the water. He glanced back at the android, who looked slightly startled. “Last one in the water’s an asshole!” Gavin yelled back at him. He looked back just long enough to see Nines start to give chase, before he turned his focus back in front of him, pushing himself to go faster. It wasn’t that far to the edge anymore but he could hear Nines behind him starting to catch up. He pushed himself a little further and didn’t hesitate when he reached the edge, jumping straight into the water. The split second in the air before breaking the surface, he could see the blurred image of Nines beside him. He had to have jumped at pretty much the same time. The water was perfectly refreshing at the end of the long day, and Gavin let himself sink into the sensation of weightlessness for just a moment before pushing back up to the surface. Nines was next to him in the water, smiling. 

“I won,” Gavin said. 

“Actually, I jumped point three seconds before you, so I think that means  _ I  _ won,” Nines replied. 

“Shut up, dipshit,” Gavin said, splashing some water at Nines. Nines laughed, squeezing his eyes shut. His usually perfectly styled dark hair was now stuck to his forehead, small drops of water stuck to his lashes and ran down his face and neck. His LED was bright blue and spinning slowly. 

Gavin didn’t realize he’d been staring until Nines opened his eyes again and looked back at him. Gavin cleared his throat and averted his gaze, noticing only now that most of the other counselors had also dropped in the water around them. “I’m - um - I’m gonna go find Tina,” Gavin said, more to himself than Nines. “See you later, Nines.” 

* * *

The kids arrived the next day at noon. Any chaos Gavin had gotten used to in the days before was nothing compared to the level of noise that was washing over the camp now. It took Gavin and Nines quite a bit of time to find and gather all their kids and get all ten of them successfully to cabin 8 without losing half of them along the way, but in the end they made it. After the fight for top bunks was settled, Gavin and Nines set everyone down outside in the grass to introduce themselves to each other. Only three of the boys had been to Camp Cyberlife before, which made Gavin feel a bit better about being a first time counselor. 

After their short introduction, Gavin and Nines helped the kids with unpacking and decorating the cabin a bit, mostly just making sure there weren’t any more arguments about sharing space. Halfway through the afternoon they went back down to the dining hall, where Markus and Maria were going to officially welcome everyone to camp. 

On their way there, one of the kids, Danny, pulled on Gavin’s sleeve. 

“Gavin?” He said, softly, glancing at the others in the group. 

“What’s up, kid?” Gavin asked. 

“Can I go say hi to North?” Danny asked quietly. “I was in her group last year.” 

Gavin glanced over at North. “Yeah, sure, kid, but make it quick. You need to be back with us before it starts okay?” 

Danny ran off, and Gavin watched him go, before catching up to Nines. “Didn’t Danny say he’d never been to camp here before?” he asked quietly. 

Nines blinked a couple of times. “Correct.” 

Gavin nodded. “Thought so,” he said, making a mental note about talking to North later. 

* * *

Later that evening, at the campfire, Gavin was about to walk up to North when Danny found him again. His hair was tousled and he looked like he was about to cry. 

“What’s wrong?” Gavin asked. 

Danny hesitated. “I fell.” 

“You fell?” Gavin repeated, glancing down. He had to bite back a flinch at the blue blood spilling from Danny’s knee. 

“Yeah,” Danny said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

Gavin mentally went through the notes on android first aid he remembered from the day before and got up. “Well, let’s go get you fixed up.” He looked around for Nines, who was a bit further down the circle, helping some of the other boys roast marshmallows. As if he knew Gavin was looking for him, Nines looked up and glanced between Gavin and Danny, before he gave Gavin a small smile and nodded. 

“All right, kid, let’s go,” Gavin said, holding out his hand. Danny grabbed it and together they made their way from the campfire to the small first aid office. There wasn’t anyone there, but the door was open. Gavin switched the light on and gestured at Danny to go sit on the desk, while he looked for a bandaid and a cleaning wipe. 

When he’d found what he was looking for, Gavin knelt down in front of the desk to look at the wound. He’d never really seen a wounded android before, and even though it was just a scrape, Gavin could see the white plastic underneath the artificial skin. It looked quite painful, but Gavin remembered androids didn’t feel physical pain like that. So the real question was, if the scrape didn’t hurt, why was Danny crying? 

“Are you sure you fell?” Gavin asked, cleaning the dirt out of the wound so the synth skin could grow back more easily. 

“Yeah,” Danny said again. 

Gavin looked up, unconvinced. “You know you can tell me if someone pushed you, right?” 

Danny bit his lip and hesitated. “It was Mara. From North’s group. She recognized me from last year.”

Gavin took a deep breath, trying to remain calm, and put the bandaid over the scrape. “Right. There you go, you should be fine in no time. Let’s get you back to the others, okay? I think Markus was going to get his guitar out.”

“Are you going to talk to Mara?” Danny asked, sounding worried.

Gavin shook his head. “No. I’m going to talk to North. She’s Mara’s counselor, and I think North is very capable of making sure this doesn’t happen again, don’t you?” He didn't add that he wasn't sure he would be able to stay civilized if _he_ went to go talk to Mara. 

Danny nodded slowly. 

“Good. Come on.”

They walked back to the campfire, where Gavin made sure to drop Danny off with Nines and the rest of their group. He went off to go find North, who was off to the side talking to Ada. He stopped for a moment, unsure whether he should interrupted the seemingly intimate conversation, but decided Danny was more important than whatever they were talking about. 

* * *

It was close to midnight - the boys had gone to sleep a while ago - and even though it had been a long and exhausting day, Gavin still wasn’t tired. He’d gone for a smoke by the lake, and now he’d settled in one of the crappy plastic chairs on the porch of cabin 8. The camp was quiet now, apart from the soft footsteps and whispers of some of the other adults who were still awake. Gavin looked up when their cabin door opened and Nines quietly stepped onto the porch. He made sure to carefully close the door again before taking a seat on the railing across from Gavin.

“I trust everything worked out with Danny?” Nines asked, quietly. 

Gavin shrugged. “For now. I mean, North already dealt with Mara, and I get the feeling that she’s pretty scary when she’s angry. Still, if another kid tries to fuck with Danny, I don’t know if I can stay this calm again.” 

Nines smiled. “Well, considering how worried you were yesterday, I think you did very well today.” 

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Gavin said, averting his eyes. 

“I mean it,” Nines said. “I was impressed.” 

Gavin felt his cheeks redden and was suddenly very glad it was dark. He stood up quickly and faked a yawn. “Right, I’m gonna go to bed. See you tomorrow.” 

“Good night, Gavin.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be "Attraction". 
> 
> -X


	3. Attraction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Gavin is still a disaster, but also does some actual thinking. Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Challenge: hydrate every time I say the word "water" in this chapter

The first week at Camp Cyberlife went by in a flash. As much as Gavin hated to admit it, he was actually having a good time. Although he still sometimes wondered who had decided he was fit to look after a bunch of children, he was actually enjoying it. Working together with Nines also quickly become more natural, even if Nines’ blunt honesty did still leave Gavin feeling strangely restless, no matter if Nines was complimenting him on something, or calling him out on his bullshit. 

It felt like their first free moment in forever when Gavin and Tina sat down at the waterfront early in the evening at the end of the first week. 

“So, still regret saying yes to this?” Tina asked, kicking off her shoes and dangling her feet in the water. 

Gavin rolled his eyes at her. “Fine, you were right, it’s not the worst thing ever.” 

Tina pushed his shoulder. “‘Not the worst thing ever’ huh? Would it really kill you to say something that’s actually positive?” 

“I mean, who knows, I never tried,” Gavin replied. 

Tina shook her head and took a sip from her water bottle. “Well at least you and Nines seem to be getting along well.”

“What’s  _ that _ supposed to mean?” Gavin asked, too quickly. Something turned in his stomach and he suddenly wished he hadn’t had a second serving of pasta. 

Tina looked surprised. “I just meant that you weren’t particularly fond of androids before coming here, but you two are working well together. But more importantly, what do  _ you  _ think I meant?”

“I - I meant - I mean,” Gavin started, glancing around desperately.

“Oh my god,” Tina interrupted. “Do you-”

“Shut up, Tina!” 

“Do you like Nines?”

“Shut the hell up!”

“Oh my god,” Tina said again. “Oh my god, Gavin. Tell me everything, now. Has anything, like, happened?”

“No, nothing  _ happened, _ ” Gavin said through gritted teeth. “And nothing’s gonna happen, because there’s nothing going on. So shut the fuck up about it or I’ll tell Valerie about that time last November when you got so drunk I had to stop you from calling her and confessing your undying love.”

Tina raised her hands. “All right, all right, I’ll shut up. I can’t believe you’re still bringing that up though, you ass.”

Gavin shrugged. “Don’t bring up my shit and I won’t bring up yours.”

* * *

_ Do you  _ like  _ Nines?  _ Tina’s question stuck in Gavin’s head, and it was rapidly starting to become a problem. Every time Nines was around, he was asking himself the same thing, and Nines was pretty much  _ always  _ around. It was immensely distracting. Especially because now the question had been asked, it was a lot harder not to notice all the things about Nines he really did find attractive. He tried his hardest to keep his mind occupied with the cabin 8 kids, which worked pretty well, but the moments when he did let his guard down, especially at the end of a long day, all those little things became very hard to ignore. 

Nines had adopted the habit of filling up Gavin’s water bottle halfway through the day - something he always forgot himself - without Gavin ever asking him to do so. 

There was this particular, startled way Nines would laugh when one of the kids would do something especially unexpected, that lit up his whole face. 

After their race to the water, Nines had gotten used to the competitive side of Gavin’s personality, and would indulge him whenever Gavin challenged him. They would win about an equal amount of dumb challenges, but somewhere in the back of his head, Gavin was pretty sure Nines let him win sometimes. Nines would talk over him loudly every time Gavin was about to swear, which should’ve been comical, but was just strangely cute. 

Gavin could be an asshole, but it had become quite apparent Nines wasn’t going to take any shit, throwing all his sass right back at Gavin. There wasn’t any malice there, and to Gavin it just felt like a little game between them. 

And there was, of course, also the annoying fact that Nines just looked utterly perfect. From his face, to his hair, to his, well, everything. 

Gavin was going over all of this in his head while he was out for another smoke. It was way past midnight, and he should be in bed. However, the nightmares had come back, so sleeping didn’t really make him feel well rested anyway, no matter what time he went to bed. 

“You know research shows that nicotine interferes highly with healthy sleeping habits.” 

Gavin hadn’t heard Nines coming, and he spun around, startled. “Fuck, Nines, you scared the shit out of me!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Nines said. “I was just checking to see if you are all right. You have only slept a total of twenty hours and forty minutes in the past week. That is a lot less than humans require to be healthy.” 

“Do I look healthy to you?” Gavin asked, taking another demonstrative drag from his cigarette. “Plus, how do you even keep track of that? And  _ why _ ?”

“Androids can go into stasis to synch up their waking hours with humans,” Nines said, walking up to Gavin. “But we do not actually require as much time spent ‘sleeping’ as you. I personally go into stasis only about two hours a night to make sure the children are okay. And you are usually awake either when I shut off, or when I wake up. The total is an approximate, but probably not far off.”

“Right, that’s not weird at all,” Gavin said slowly, taking an unconscious step back while Nines came closer. He’d been ready to say something more, something insulting, but Nines’ proximity had made it very hard for him to think. Nines was looking down at him questioningly, and Gavin was stuck between wishing he was a little bigger so he might sound more intimidating, and actually liking how much taller Nines was than him. He’d have to stand on his toes to - 

Gavin took another hasty step back before he could finish that thought, nearly tripping over his own feet, but Nines grabbed his arm to keep him from actually falling. They stood there a split second. Nines was looking at where he was still holding on to Gavin, confused. Gavin looked down as well, mirroring the expression when he saw that the synth skin on Nines’ hand had retracted to show the smooth white plastic underneath. 

“I’m fine,” Gavin said, breaking the awkward silence. “You can let go now.” 

Nines blinked a couple of times, his LED switching between blue and yellow, spinning rapidly. He suddenly let go off Gavin’s arm, shaking his head. “Of course. Sorry, Gavin.”

“Yeah, um, anyway, you’re right,” Gavin said. “I should really go get some sleep. See you tomorrow, Nines.”

* * *

Gavin went back to their cabin without looking back, and he didn’t hear Nines following. After he’d closed the cabin door behind him quietly, he leaned back against it and let out a long breath. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. The boys were all asleep or in stasis. Gavin quietly changed into his sleep shorts and got into bed. He turned over to face the wall, trying to relax, but he wasn’t any closer to sleep than he’d been two hours ago. His conversation with Nines kept replaying in his head. 

Nines came back almost an hour later, and Gavin, who was still just staring at the wall, tried his hardest not to move and keep his breath steady. If Nines knew he was still awake, he at least didn’t say anything. Gavin listened closely as Nines walked over to his own bed and settled down to go into stasis. He waited a long while before he risked turning over. Nines was lying in bed, facing Gavin, eyes closed. His LED was blue, spinning slowly. He looked peaceful. 

His hand was back to normal, and Gavin wondered again what had happened earlier, and why. He’d seen androids retract their skin a couple of times before: either in stores to pay, or with other androids to exchange information. This had been different, and judging from Nines’ reaction, not something that normally happened. All Gavin knew, was that when Nines had touched him, his skin had still been tingling long after he’d let go. 

_ Do you  _ like  _ Nines? _ Tina’s voice popped into his head again, and Gavin sighed into his pillow. 

_ Yes I do.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk guys I haven't written this much this fast in a long time. Spot the detroot evoot reference? 
> 
> Next chapter is going to be "Attention" 
> 
> -X


	4. Attention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Gavin kind of deserves a slap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel the need to inform you that this chapter was originally called "Androids! At The Disco"

They didn’t talk about what had happened at the lake. Gavin wasn’t even sure the next day  _ what  _ had happened at the lake anyway, and whether any of it had actually been noteworthy. He and Nines resumed their easy dynamic as co-counselors, and it almost seemed as if nothing had changed at all. That, of course, wasn’t entirely true. He’d decided almost immediately after he’d admitted it, that it didn’t actually matter that he liked Nines. It wasn’t like anything would ever come of it. He wouldn’t let it. Nines was just too damn nice and  _ whole  _ to be ruined by someone like Gavin getting too close. He’d done it before enough times to know Nines deserved better than him. 

So Gavin pretended. He pretended he didn’t feel that spark again when Nines did something simple like tap his shoulder, or accidentally brush against him in passing. He pretended he didn’t feel the backflip his stomach made when Nines did something adorable, like giving one of the kids a piggyback ride, or scrunching his face and blinking rapidly when he didn’t understand a joke. 

Gavin pretended very hard not to care, just laugh and shoo the boys after one of them had whistled at Nines and Chloe, the other lifeguard, who had been chatting on the dock while Gavin and the kids played catch in the lake. He’d wanted to curse, yell, or run away, but all he did was say “guys come on, grow up”, as he’d turned his back.

The pretending went reasonably well. 

A couple of days later, cabin 8 was on the chore schedule for dishes after dinner. There was a dance event at eight, and the boys were restless. So much so, that they were making more of a mess than they were effectively cleaning up. It was the first time since the start of camp Gavin actually lost his patience. 

“All right, everybody out!” He yelled over the noise in the kitchen. “Go change into your clean T-shirts or whatever it is you all so desperately need to do before the dance, I don’t care. Just get out, we’ll finish the dishes.”

“Only this once!” Nines added, as the boys sprinted out of the kitchen. When they were gone he turned to Gavin. “I’m not sure that was the best solution. Now they might think that we will do their chores every time they misbehave.” 

Gavin sighed. “It’s fine, it’s nearly done anyway. They’re way too preoccupied to do a decent job here and it only would’ve gotten worse if it seemed like they were going to be late for the dance. Catch!” He threw a dish towel at Nines, who caught it easily. 

Gavin started cleaning the few plates that were left in the sink, and Nines walked up next to him, starting to dry the clean dishes. The realization of the situation Gavin had just caused hit him like a ton of bricks. Because now, Nines was standing right next to him, and they were alone together for the first time since the lake. They worked in silence for a while. Gavin tried desperately to think of something to say - not because the silence was awkward, but because if they were talking it might be easier not to focus their proximity. 

It was Nines who broke the silence first. “If you’re still looking for something you are better at than I am, tonight might be your time to shine. That is, if you are any good at dancing.” 

Gavin let out a startled noise. “Really? Dancing? That’s the one you’re opting out of? Don’t you have, like, a dancing program downloaded somewhere in those endless memory banks?”

“I could download instructions for specific types of dance, yes,” Nines replied. “But the type of dancing found at events like these doesn’t have a really come with a guide book, I think. It’s more a matter of creativity and spontaneity, I think.” 

Gavin snorted. “Spontaneity, huh? Well, I guess you’re fucked then. You are many things, but I’m pretty sure ‘spontaneous’ isn’t one of them.” 

Nines looked a bit taken aback, his LED spinning from blue to yellow. Gavin suddenly worried he’d actually insulted him. Then Nines quickly reached for the dishwater, faster than Gavin could register, and blew a handful of bubbles into Gavin’s face. 

Gavin sputtered and rubbed his face clean. “Okay, smartass. Got it,” he said, grinning. 

* * *

By the time they made it to the soccer field, that had been converted into an outdoor dance floor, the party was already in full swing. There were kids dancing, running around and chasing each other, while a few remained on the sideline for now, either feeling too cool or too insecure to join in yet. 

As soon as Tina spotted Gavin, she shot out of the crowd, grabbed his arm, and started dragging him to the dance floor. 

“Tina, the music is shit,” Gavin said in a half assed attempt to protest. “And I should go see if the kids all got here.” 

“I’m sure Nines can handle your boys alone for just a minute,” Tina replied, “and we haven’t been dancing in ages, so you better just deal with it.” 

They reached the dance floor and Gavin glanced around. There were a lot of counselors on the dance floor, and no one seemed to be paying particular attention to them. “Tina I can’t remember the last time I danced  _ sober _ ,” Gavin said awkwardly. 

Tina laughed. “I don’t think you ever have, in the time I’ve known you. But it’s not like anyone cares around here if you look like an idiot.” She made a show of doing a couple of particularly bad dance moves, and Gavin couldn’t help but laugh and follow her lead. 

After the first song, Gavin forgot about his apprehension and started enjoying himself. He’d gone dancing with Tina many times before, and he found an easy rhythm with her now, even though he felt a bit more stiff without any alcohol in his system. They were soon joined by several kids from both their cabin groups, and they took turns spinning the kids around and showing them some particularly silly dance moves. 

Gavin almost forgot about the Nines situation entirely, until he spotted Ada and North dancing together across the dancefloor. They were making a show of it, spinning each other around fluently, smiling wide at each other. They’d gathered quite an audience clapping around them, but their eyes stayed locked on each other. What really caught Gavin’s attention, though, was that when their hands locked together, their synth skin would start to retract. 

When the song ended, Ada and North bowed to their audience, and North went off to find something to drink while Ada almost got tackled by some of the girls from her and Tina’s cabin. 

Gavin took the silence between songs as an opportunity. He tapped Valerie’s shoulder, who’d been dancing nearby. “Hey Val, can you go dance with Tina for a bit? I gotta go do something.” 

Valerie looked slightly surprised and turned slightly red, but she nodded. 

Gavin pushed through the crowd, making a B-line for the table where drinks were being served, and found North.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” Gavin asked, trying to sound casual. He grabbed a water bottle from the table. 

“Sure,” North replied. “Is something wrong? Did something happen with Danny?” 

Gavin shook his head. “No, no, nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to ask you something.” 

“Oh, sure, go right ahead,” North said. 

“Can we - um - walk?” Gavin asked, glancing around. He hadn’t spotted Nines for a while, but he didn’t want to risk being in hearing range. 

North frowned but nodded. They started walking away from the field down the path toward the cabins. When Gavin felt far enough away, he sighed. “Okay, so I’m sorry if this is like, an insult, or something, but um. Shit, how do I say this.” 

“Just spit it out, Gavin,” North said.

“Right, fucking hell,” Gavin said. “I noticed just now when you were dancing with Ada that you guys’ skin retracted when you were touching. Why does that happen?”

North smiled, surprised, and blushed slightly. “Oh, um, well. Let’s see. Androids retract their skin to interface with other androids. It allows us to connect our minds. We use the ability for many things, but between partners it’s mostly seen as a form of intimacy? Like showing affection and trust by opening yourself up to each other. Why do you ask?”

Gavin felt the blood rush to his cheeks. “Just curious.”

“Right,” North said, squinting at him. “Just curious. That’s why we had to walk all the way over here to talk about it.”

“I - I didn’t know if it was like a weird or sensitive question,” Gavin tried, stumbling over the words. 

North laughed. “Sure, Gavin, okay. I’m gonna head back.” She turned and patted his shoulder. “If you wanna know more about it, maybe you should just ask Nines, yeah?”

Gavin froze on the spot and watched North walk away. He wanted to yell something after her to negate the implication, but couldn’t find any excuse that sounded even remotely convincing. 

“Fuck,” he whispered, when North had disappeared around the corner. “Fucking shit.”

* * *

It took Gavin about ten minutes to build up the courage and return to the dance. He walked off to the side, taking a seat on the bleachers. He took a sip of water and went over his lakeside talk with Nines again. As if he knew Gavin’s had been thinking about him, Nines appeared through the crowd and started walking toward him.

“There you are,” Nines said, sitting down next to him.

Gavin looked up at him, questioningly. 

“The kids were wondering where you were; I said I’d go look,” Nines explained. 

“I just went for a walk,” Gavin said. “Needed to get away from the crowd for a bit.” 

“You aren’t particularly fond of large groups of people, are you?” Nines asked, eyes moving between Gavin and the dancefloor. 

Gavin shook his head. “Not really, no.” 

“Well,” Nines continued, “if it makes you feel any better, you definitely are a better dancer than I am.” 

“Have you tried?” Gavin asked.

“No,” Nines admitted. “It feels. Weird. Like it goes against my programming.” 

“The other androids seem fine with dancing,” Gavin said, nodding at North and Ada, who’d once again found each other. 

“You’re right,” Nines agreed. “Maybe it is because they have someone to dance with? Maybe that makes it easier?” 

Gavin looked back at Nines, who seemed to be genuinely considering this option. “Well is there someone you’d like to dance with?”

Nines eyes snapped to his, and Gavin immediately regretted asking. 

“Like who?” Nines asked. 

Gavin ran a hand through his hair and looked away. “I don’t know, saw you talking to that Chloe chick a couple days ago, I thought maybe you were into that.” 

Nines made a weird noise. “I - no, I’m not ‘into that’. Chloe is nice, and I’m sure many people find her attractive, but I don’t have any feelings for her.”

“Good, so I don’t have to worry about you disappearing to fuck the lifeguard. Thinking of an excuse to tell the boys might’ve been awkward.” Gavin knew he was being an ass, but he found he couldn’t stop the words from leaving his mouth. 

“You don’t have to worry about me fucking anybody,” Nines snapped. “I wasn’t designed for that purpose. As I am sure _you_ weren’t put on this earth just to be rude. Is there something bothering you, or are you just in a particularly foul mood?” 

“Fuck off,” Gavin said, and he got up. 

Nines grabbed his wrist in an attempt to stop him. “Gavin, what-”

Gavin pulled his arm free. “ _ Don’t  _ touch me.”

Nines looked genuinely hurt, his LED now blinking from yellow to red. He looked like he wanted to say something else but didn’t seem to find the words. 

Part of Gavin wanted to apologize, sit back down and explain why he was acting the way he was, but a larger part of his brain was relentlessly repeating the words  _ I told you so _ . Because he’d hurt Nines, like he’d known he would. So Gavin turned around and walked away. 

* * *

Tina found him on the docks after midnight. The dance had long since ended, and everyone had retired to their beds, but Gavin hadn’t dared to go back to cabin 8 yet. Tina sat down to him with a sigh, leaning her head on his shoulder. 

“I need a cigarette,” she said.

“Tina, I-” 

“Shut up, I know you have some,” Tina interrupted. “And I  _ need _ one.” 

Gavin frowned, fishing the almost empty pack from his pocket. He handed her a cigarette, put one between his own lips and lit them both. 

“So what happened to you then?” Gavin asked after a while. 

“It was fine, I danced with Valerie pretty much the whole night after you left,” Tina said. “And then I had to go and ruin it by blurting out everything I’d felt for her the past year. And then she left. I think I scared her off.”

Gavin raised his eyebrows. “Nice one. Could be worse though.”

“Worse? How?” 

“Just take it from someone who has issues.”

“No, no, no,” Tina said, sitting up straight. “What did you do?”

Gavin sighed. “How much time do you have?”

“All night, if need be, you idiot,” Tina said. 

As it turned out, it did take Gavin quite a bit of time to explain what had happened to Tina in a coherent manner, but in the end he did tell her everything. He felt a bit better laying everything out in the open. 

“You know what, you’re right,” Tina said when he was done. “It could be worse. You really are an absolute disaster, Gavin. ”

“You’re the one that just declared her undying love to someone on the first date. And it wasn’t even really a date.”

“Fine, we’re both disasters,” Tina admitted. “And tomorrow we’re going to fix that. For now I think I’ll need another cigarette.” 

Gavin chuckled and handed her one. Tina rested her head on his shoulder again, and they sat there in silence for a long while, until the sun started coming up behind them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies go out to Chloe for dragging her into this mess. 
> 
> Also don't smoke, kids.
> 
> Next and last chapter will of course be "Anatomy" 
> 
> -X


	5. Anatomy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very much my love letter to Michelle's gorgeous sunset balcony scene. It's also probably the cheesiest garbage I've ever written.

Nines wasn’t sure he was angry, sad, or something else entirely. He’d scanned his systems a couple of time already, but had found nothing wrong even though he kept feeling a sharp pain in his chest every time he replayed the moment Gavin had pulled his arm away from him. There might just be something glitching in general, because he also  _ couldn’t stop  _ his memory from replaying the moment, as much as he wished he could just forget it had happened entirely.  _ Don’t touch me. _ Nines had never seen this look in Gavin’s eyes before, but as far as Nines could discern, it had most likely been disgust. Nines would never have believed the way someone looked at you could hurt so much.

What made absolutely no sense, was that as bad as Gavin had hurt him, Nines still wanted to talk to him. Apologize for what had happened by the lake, explain he’d had no control over it, maybe even lie about  _ why  _ it had happened if it meant they could go back to how things were before. He would do anything to fix the current situation. 

He  _ would _ . Except Gavin never showed up again. Nines took the boys to bed by himself, managed to keep it together long enough to make sure they were all asleep, before he settled down outside on the porch to wait for his missing co-counselor. 

He didn’t come.

* * *

The camp was already coming back to life when Gavin and Tina walked back over to their cabins. Tina was yawning loudly every couple of minutes. Gavin was more used to pulling all nighters, but he was pretty sure he was going to have a rough day regardless. Not to mention the fact he was going to have to apologize to Nines. 

He didn’t run into Nines in the cabin - they must’ve just missed each other - and while he changed into some clean clothes, Gavin was trying to think of a way to say sorry. The worst thing about it that he couldn’t think of a way to apologize without also admitting to Nines that he had feelings for him. 

“Hey Gavin!” 

Gavin turned around just in time to see Danny come into the cabin, before the boy nearly tackled him with a hug. 

“Are you okay?” Danny asked.

Gavin smiled. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” 

“You weren’t here all night,” Danny said, still sounding worried. “Nines said you were preparing stuff for the counselor hunt, but that doesn’t really take the entire night, right? And Nines looked kinda sad.”

Gavin felt something tighten in his chest. 

“Kinda like you right now,” Danny added. “Did you guys have a fight?” 

“Something like that,” Gavin admitted. “But don’t worry about that, okay? We’ll sort it out.”

Danny nodded. “You gotta. It’s no fun if you aren’t having a good time, too. And you can’t have a good time when you’re sad.” 

Gavin chuckled. “That’s right, kid. Now hurry up to breakfast or there will be nothing left. I’m gonna be right behind you.” 

* * *

It was only after dinner that Gavin finally found a moment of free time to go talk to Nines. 

“Nines, wait up, I wanna talk to you.”

“That’s funny, Gavin. I just found out yesterday I don’t want to talk to you,  _ ever _ again.” Nines had been composed throughout the entire day, never letting any emotion take over when they’d talked about the camp activities or the kids, but now his voice was full of anger. 

“Okay, well, um,” Gavin stammered. “Can’t we pretend for a second it’s yesterday still? Like, before I said all of that stupid shit to you?” 

Nines seemed to momentarily forget about his anger, and frowned. “What do you mean?” 

“I was a dick yesterday,” Gavin said. “Like way more than I usually already am. All that stuff I said about Chloe. And the way I reacted when - I’m sorry. I just - ” Gavin hesitated. He’d been thinking the whole day about how he’d explain the  _ why  _ of it all, but now they were here, he seemed to have lost the ability to coherently explain anything.

“I’m sorry, too,” Nines said suddenly, inexplicably. 

“What the hell for?”

“I am sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable the other night by the lake, when my skin retracted as if I was about to interface - which of course isn’t possible. I understand that might have been strange for you. Usually I have control over when that happens, but for some reason I didn’t this time.”

“Right,” Gavin said slowly, trying to process Nines’ apology.  “So I think we’re even,” Nines said. 

“Yeah,” Gavin replied. 

“I am glad we are back to normal.” Nines smiled at him, and hesitated for just a second before putting his hand on Gavin’s shoulder shortly. “We should go join the kids, I think they were going for an evening swim, we might want to keep an eye out.”

Gavin stood nailed to the ground while he watched Nines walk away. “Fuck,” he muttered. This wasn’t at all how he’d imagined this conversation would go. On one hand he’d been terrified at the prospect of revealing his feelings to Nines, but on the other hand he now was right back where he started. “Nines wait!” The words had left his mouth before he’d fully committed to the decision.

Nines turned around, giving Gavin a questioning look while Gavin jogged up to him.

“I wasn’t really done talking,” Gavin said, and he took a deep breath. “Like I said, pretend for a second it’s still yesterday. Before I said all that stupid shit. Remember what I asked?”

“You asked me whether there was someone I would like to dance with,” Nines replied.

“Right,” Gavin said. “See, the thing is - the stupid, inexplicable fucking thing is that I wanted you to say me. But then you asked me who I had in mind and just couldn’t say it. I got scared Nines.” 

Nines blinked a couple of times, his LED spinning rapid yellow. His lips were slightly parted, as if he was about to say something but hadn’t figured what yet. 

Gavin, however, had finally found the words. “I asked North about the interfacing. I saw it happen when she was dancing with Ada, too. She said that it’s sometimes a sign of affection. It freaked me out, but not because it made me uncomfortable, but because every time you touch  _ me _ , my skin gets all tingly and I suddenly feel more alive than I have for years. It’s fucking ridiculous, Nines. I’m sorry if I’m now the one freaking you out, but I don’t wanna be ‘back to normal’.”

Nines was still silent, looking down at Gavin. His face was impossible to read, as always, and another wave of self doubt washed through Gavin. Suddenly, Nines took a step forward. He was so much taller than Gavin. Nines’ hand came up to rest on Gavin’s cheek, and Gavin felt a shock ripple through him. He leaned into the touch. Nines started leaning down, and Gavin pushed past the last remains of fear and doubt, standing on his toes to meet Nines halfway. The kiss was soft, and Gavin’s eyes closed almost immediately, shutting out everything but the feeling of their lips against each other. 

The peaceful moment was disturbed almost immediately by the familiar yelling and whistling of a group of kids’ voices. Gavin and Nines broke away from each other and Gavin scowled in the direction of their boys.

“Grow up, little shits!” 

Nines looked startled and then snorted. “That’s the first swear I missed, I think.” His eyes turned more serious. “Are you all right? Your heart rate is really high.” 

Gavin felt the blood rush to his cheeks. “Stop looking at my insides!”

Nines chuckled, but his eyes, now back on Gavin’s, were soft and full of affection. 

“And my face,” Gavin mumbled, turning away from Nines before he turned even redder.

* * *

The boys behaved pretty well the rest of the evening. Danny did come up to Gavin at some point to tell him quietly he was glad that they’d made up, but other than that, they didn’t seem to dare comment on Gavin and Nines again - at least not when Gavin was in earshot.

Nines was still making sure the kids actually went to sleep when Gavin made his way behind cabin 8 down to the lake. He fished the last cigarette from his pack and lit it, breathing in the smoke, hoping it would calm his giddiness. Waiting for Nines to show up seemed to take forever, but he’d only smoked half his cigarette when he heard Nines’ quiet footsteps rustle through the grass behind him. Gavin didn’t turn around, but held out his hand. Nines took it and stepped up to Gavin, turning him around so they were facing each other.

“There’s something we should talk about,” Nines said. He looked worried. 

“Right,” Gavin said slowly, nervously tapping the ash off his cigarette. “What is it?” 

“Gavin I really care about you, and I do want this,” Nines started. “But there are some things I  _ cannot  _ give you.”

Gavin frowned. “What do you mean?” 

“We brushed the topic yesterday, when we were, um, talking about Chloe,” Nines said. He seemed restless, fidgeting with Gavin’s hand in his, LED bright yellow. 

It took a moment for Gavin to catch on. Oh.  _ Oh. _ “Shit, Nines, you think I care about that? You think this is about sex at all? Because it’s not.” 

Nines looked like he was about to interject, but Gavin didn’t give him the time. 

“Listen, when Tina asked me if I wanted to come here this summer, I was pretty sure it was going to be shit,” Gavin continued. “The only reason I said yes was - I fucked up last summer, badly, and I figured that if I was here, with Tina looking out for me that wouldn’t happen again. I didn’t think I was actually going to enjoy myself. But now I’m here and I’m the happiest I’ve been in years. And that’s mostly because of you.”

“I just want to be everything you need,” Nines said.

Gavin shook his head. “What I need is someone take any of my shit, but also doesn’t leave me because of it. I’ve done a lot of dumb, bad shit. I’m not a good person most days. But you make me want to be one, Nines.” He looked down at their hands. Nines’ skin had retracted again, revealing the smooth white plastic underneath. Gavin smiled and looked back up at Nines. “You do it on purpose that time?” 

“No,” Nines answered. “It seems I can’t really control it around you.”

“Good,” Gavin said. “So are you still worried?” 

“I think the correct emotion would be scared, actually,” Nines admitted. “Is that strange?”

“Oh, I’m fucking terrified,” Gavin said. “But I guess we’ll just have to figure that out together.” 

“I’d like that,” Nines said. He pulled Gavin closer. Gavin stood up on his toes without thinking and when their lips connected, the fear seemed to slowly wash away. 

FIN.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it guys, thanks for reading the absolute mess this was. I never thought I'd write a fic inspired by google translate, but here we are. I had a lot of fun. 
> 
> I might revisit any of these characters in the future, who knows. 
> 
> -X


End file.
